Cut Out Animation

Looking at different techniques in animation is something that is really important if I want to think about the different ways I can approach future projects and the more I learn about and know the more I will be able to try. Cut out animation is something that has a few different ways of achieving it and I wanted to look at the different methods and how effective they are.

The first method is the standard cutting out bits of paper and moving them each time and taking a series of photographs. This way is quite old but it still works really well and I looked on vimeo for a few examples of cut out animation that have used this method. I found a really interesting behind the scenes video of this method and I wanted to share it just because I think it's sometimes useful to see how they've done it to get a better understanding. Something I personally really enjoy is to paint and after watching this video I saw how the animator paints her characters such as the bear and then cuts them out so I'd really like to try this method in the future! I also found it interesting how to move the really little parts of the characters with a toothpick and I've never really considered how careful you have to be with each tiny layer.

Making of 'Paper Plane' from gianluca maruotti on Vimeo.

I found this animation and I thought it was a really cool use of cut out along with using a stop motion setup and feel to it. I really like how in some scenes they have the paper moving like it's blowing in the wind. It's also really stylised in the way that it uses a black backdrop and then colourful layers on top that really pop and stand out, this is a really nice look and they don't really try to hide that it's all cut out pieces of card either. In most cut out animation it is usually quite flat and 2D looking but I thought this animation was great as it uses paper as a prop and makes 3D objects from paper. I also really like the sue of real time footage that they use and I feel like it makes the whole animation seem more real.

Early Morning Life : Paper cutout animation from S A R A N yen P A N Y A on Vimeo.